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shiva
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“The essence of life is in solitude – wouldn’t you agree? All unions are built on falsehood. People can only get to know each other up to a point and then they make up the rest, until one day, seeing their mistake, they turn their backs on sadness and run away. Would this ever happen, if they stopped believing in their dreams and made do with what was possible? If everyone accepted what was natural, then no one would suffer disappointment, no one would curse fate.”
― Madonna in a Fur Coat
― Madonna in a Fur Coat
“The pain of losing something precious - be it earthly happiness or material wealth - can be forgotten over time. But our missed opportunities never leave us, and every the they come back to haunt us, we ache. Or perhaps what haunts us is that nagging thought that things might have turned out differently. Because without that thought, we would put it down to fate and accept it.”
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“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”
― Letters to a Young Poet
― Letters to a Young Poet
“Some things we never know we need until we find them. And now, when I looked back on my life, it seemed empty and idle, if only because she’d not been in it.
All my life, I’d shied away from human company, never sharing my thoughts with a soul. How pointless this seemed now, and how absurd!
I’d thought that it was life itself that had ground me down – that my sadness stemmed from spiritual malaise. After spending two hours with a book, and finding it more pleasurable than two years of real life, I’d remember again that life had no meaning, and sink back into despair.”
― Kürk Mantolu Madonna
All my life, I’d shied away from human company, never sharing my thoughts with a soul. How pointless this seemed now, and how absurd!
I’d thought that it was life itself that had ground me down – that my sadness stemmed from spiritual malaise. After spending two hours with a book, and finding it more pleasurable than two years of real life, I’d remember again that life had no meaning, and sink back into despair.”
― Kürk Mantolu Madonna
“People can only get to know each other up to a point and then they make up the rest, until one day, seeing their mistake, they turn their backs on sadness and run away. Would this ever happen, if they stopped believing their dreams and made do with what was possible? If everyone accepted what was natural, then no one would suffer disappointment, no one would curse fate. We have every right to see our situation as pitiful, but we must confine our pity to ourselves. To pity another is to assume superiority and that is why we must never think we are superior to others, or that others are more unfortunate.”
― Kürk Mantolu Madonna
― Kürk Mantolu Madonna
Indonesians Who Love English Books
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— last activity Jun 27, 2026 11:05PM
This group is created for Indonesians who love to read English books. Anyone is welcomed here. Books to be discussed are English books that can be fou ...more
The Novella Club
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— last activity Sep 03, 2026 11:23AM
A book group devoted to reading and discussing novellas (one a month). Definition of NOVELLA 1) a story with a compact and pointed plot 2) a work of ...more
shiva’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at shiva’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
553 books
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329 friends
1,534 books
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972 friends
464 books
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3,038 friends
563 books
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194 friends
1,663 books
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86 friends
2,358 books
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120 friends
982 books
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405 friends
2,136 books
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1,334 friends
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